The day of the week turned Friday and the two students leading the Student Council stayed behind to finish up paperworks they piled up earlier that week. The student council Adviser forced both girls to stay behind to finish up neglected duties. Mariya looked at the ticking clock and decided to end the day’s worth of work. Well, both of them decided to follow their teacher's orders until six thirty but they had hardly anything done since Atsuko spent so much time planning her weekend and minding her freshly painted nails. 

“Uhgg! I missed my salon appointment for this. That stupid teacher forced us to stay behind, maybe I can ask my dad to fire her.” Mariya complained before piling up some paperworks for the upcoming school festival. “Those useless bunch should’ve finished these for us!”, she continued, referring to the other members of the student council.

“Stop complaining, geez. Just think about it, by the end of this month, I’m gonna be dating Dai-chan and you’ll be with Yamada” Atsuko reminded her friend about the deal she made with the two boys. She squealed internally and just imagined herself being in the arms of the boy she fancies since sixth grade. 

“You’re right… by the end of this month, I can finally be with my prince” Mariya smiled to herself and walked side by side Atsuko. Both girls were on their way towards the exit of the building when something caught their attention. 

They went past the Media Studies room and found a dim light coming from inside. They weren’t expecting anyone else in the school at this time of the night. It’s Friday and it’s already 7pm in a cold winter night, no one is the right mind would hang around the campus this late. The light inside the room flickered continuously alongside sounds of random whispers which was enough to make the two girls look to see what’s going on inside. 

Atsuko entered the lecture hall first then Mariya trailed behind her back. Her left hand grabbed Atsuko’s sleeve, obvious that she's already feeling terrified. “Is someone here?!” Atsuko shouted. They didn’t notice it at first but there are two people standing just in front of the massive video screen. The flickering lights and the blinking projector screen behind these mysterious figures were barely enough to make their presence noticeable in the far side of the room. Atsuko and Mariya squinted their eyes and saw two girls wearing Hakusenkan uniforms. 

The two girls saw Amu and Rio looking down on the ground with blank faces before Rio kicked a lifeless body on the floor.

“Tsk, I didn’t wanna do this but he knows too much already” Atsuko and Mariya heard the two girls speak. Their eyes landed on the body on the floor covered with blood and then to Rio’s hand holding a butcher knife. With widened eyes, they saw something that could’ve been a scene from a horror movie. They couldn’t figure out who the ‘murdered’ person was but he was wearing Hakusenkan uniform. 

“D-D-D-Did she just kill someone?!!!!!” Mariya shook Atsuko’s sleeve vigorously, absolutely terrified.  With teary eyes, she begged Atsuko to move but the latter seems to be frozen from her place. “ATSUKO! We have to get out of here!” Mariya pulled her friend towards the door.

Atsuko tried her best to get her composure back and followed Mariya to the exit of the room but *BANG*, the door behind them closed involuntarily. They heard the lock click, making them stuck inside the room with Amu and Rio. 

“Ahh… Atsuko-san, Mariya-san. What a nice surprise” Amu met the two girls’ eyes and smirked at them. Mariya and Atsuko saw splashes of blood on her white top, her long black hair dangled down covering half her face and one eye. For some reason, her left eye appeared red - as if she was possessed. 

“Why don’t you join us for awhile?” It was Rio’s turn to greet them. She played with her butcher knife covered with blood after leaving the lifeless body on the ground. She shot a psychotic glare at the two terrified girls while twirling the ends of her hair.

Feeling unsafe, Atsuko and Mariya felt themselves banging the door and tried their best to pull it open. But to their dismay, the door wouldn’t budge. It was as if someone locked it from the outside. “YOU FREAKS BETTER LET US GO, OR ELSE….”, with much courage, Atsuko shouted across the room. She felt her friend hitting her uncontrollably, obvious on how scared she was. 

—

*Bang*

Another loud noise was heard. But this time, all the lights in the room turned off. Everything was pitch black. Nothing. All Atsuko and Mariya could hear was the sound of their own heartbeat banging against their chest as if ready to burst out. 

Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

“OR ELSE, WHAT?!” 

“AHHHHHH!!!” All lights inside the room suddenly and next thing they knew, the two girls were already a few inches away from them, Rio’s knife was buried on the surface of the wooden door behind them. Mariya, who was nearer to the knife, felt her knees shaking in terror. She felt her back slowly gliding down the door, all her strength suddenly drained out. 

“Can I tell you a secret?” Rio whispered on Mariya’s ear but enough for Atsuko to hear as well. “You know that rumour about my family dying in a car accident? That’s not entirely true…” Rio paused for awhile before pulling her knife out from the door and started caressing it, “The truth is… I killed them” She continued, making the poor girl shake in horror. 

“L-LET US GO!”

“Or else, what? You’re gonna expel us? Oh wait… You already took our scholarships away so we have nothing to lo